JACKSONVILLE — The gargantuan NorthPort Logistics Center looms over a pristine loading area with more than 100 dock doors stretching down two sides of the building, located 2.5 miles from the Port of Jacksonville. The nearly 900,000-square-foot warehouse has been empty since it was completed in 2009, a specter of a commercial real estate market that, before the recession, was booming with potential.

But some of the other industrial projects that were built speculatively have started to fill up in recent weeks, with JanPak Inc., Sam’s Club and Union Supply Company Inc. planning to occupy spaces that have been dark since they were completed.

Real estate brokers say the activity is a good sign, but not enough to make a significant difference in the market’s vacancy rate, which has hovered near 11 percent for the better part of two years. For a real decline in vacancy, brokers said more new companies would need to move into the market and into the NorthPort Logistics Center.

Mark Scott, senior director of the industrial group at Graham & Co. in Jacksonville, said that although the new leases are good news, it’s too early to say there’s a positive trend in the market.

“It’s an indicator,” he said. “And any time you come out of these recessions, you have to be wary about being overly optimistic.”

Scott said a healthier market vacancy rate would be around 6 percent or 7 percent.

“I think if we get to that point, when we get to that point, we could see spec development again,” he said. “We’ve done it before. We’ve had periods of recession in this market before where you see high vacancy, and then activity recurs and companies grow and expand and new business comes to the market.”

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